


Walls are Coming Down

by fanfiction_fanfriction



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Berlin Wall, Boys Kissing, Cold War, End of the Cold War, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Near Future, Plans For The Future, Post-Canon, Romantic Fluff, Television, Television Watching, november 9th 1989
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14283231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfiction_fanfriction/pseuds/fanfiction_fanfriction
Summary: Billy once told him the day before graduation, sitting on the hood of his car and smoking cigarettes as the moon hung in the sky, “Never look back Harrington, the future is forward not behind you.”That was probably the most poetic thing Steve had ever heard come out of the blonde’s mouth. That’s probably why he remembered it so well.





	Walls are Coming Down

Billy once told him the day before graduation, sitting on the hood of his car and smoking cigarettes as the moon hung in the sky, “Never look back Harrington, the future is forward not behind you.”

That was probably the most poetic thing Steve had ever heard come out of the blonde’s mouth. That’s probably why he remembered it so well. 

That was over four years ago, Novemeber 1989. The annual chill was beginning to cling onto everything that touched the borders of Hawkins. Frost decorated the windows, the faintest bits of snowfall were touching the branches of the trees.

Steve spent most of his time working now, going to the local community college so he can get his marks up to go to university in Indianapolis. He wanted to be a teacher now, help kids in ways other than combating monsters. When he wasn’t at school he was working at the local daycare where the kids there thought that big dogs were the scariest things on earth. 

It brought normalcy to his once chaotic life. 

Right now they felt as if they were between places. The place between high school and adulthood. Currently Billy was unemployed and spent his time away from his house as much as possible. He was afraid his father would ship him off to the armed services if given the chance. Most nights Billy stayed the night, whispering promises.

“I’ll pay you back.”

“I owe you everything.”

“I’ll make sure I’m pulling my weight soon enough.”

Steve doesn’t want to hold it against him. 

He enjoyed having another person in the large, empty house. It had been years since he had to use his bat, but sometimes the slightest noise made him want to use it.

Billy was the comfort he craved and it made up for all the nights he snuck into the Harrington house and slept beside Steve. Hands often finding each other, backs pressed against chests as they cuddle. The soft kisses along skin, each carried a promise of a brighter future. 

Looking forward, never back.

He was studying for a test the following afternoon when there was frantic ringing of the doorbell. Steve didn’t know exactly who it could be, Billy usually didn’t sneak in through his window until sundown. He closed his notebook and got up, assuming it was one of the party in some sort of emergency they seemed to find themselves in. 

“I’m coming! I’m coming!”

He could hear from the other side of the door, “You only say that when we’re in bed together.”

Steve opened the door to find Billy Hargrove on the other side. He looked excited, hands shoved in the pockets of his jean jacket and looking directly at the other young man.

“Real funny, are you okay? Did you get high again?”

Billy rolled his eyes, “No, I was driving here to tell you something and I heard on the radio. Something’s happening with the wall.”

“The wall?” Steve asked, arching his eyebrows in curiosity. He couldn’t quite connect the dots of what Billy was trying to get to.

“The wall, Harrington. The wall, come on turn on the news!” Billy pushed past Steve, not bothering to kick his shoes off like he normally did but rather settling himself down in front of the television like an over eager child.

“What wall?”

Billy turned to look at him, “I knew you were bad in history, but not this bad. The Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain. Come on you know.” He leaned back to the coffee table and grabbed the remote.

Steve locked the door and went to sit beside Billy. 

The blonde quickly changed it to the news station and began watching with complete fascination.

A woman stood in front of a crowd of people, all armed with pick axes, shovels, hammers, anything to tear down the concrete wall.

“It seems as if guards haven’t been stopping people from crossing to the other side! Some people have even gotten up on top of the wall to try and take it down! It sure does appear to be a special night only for the people of Berlin, but everyone around the world!” The woman said over the commotion behind her.

People in droves crossed the checkpoint, each moved at a quick pace as if the border was going to shut in any minute. The frantic anxiety could be felt through the television screen.

The guards in their green uniforms and guns at their hips didn’t move an inch. They allowed the people to move freely as they should’ve been allowed to do this entire time. 

“Tonight is Freedom night here in Berlin” The reporter said, “Soldiers are now joining in the effort to tear down the wall!”

It was a sight to behold, people tearing down the parts that the recently brought in machinery haven’t gotten to yet. Man and machine working along side one another to bring the neighbourhoods back together that had been divided for almost three decades. 

The impossible had just become a reality. 

Steve’s eyes remained locked on the screen. 

Billy’s hand curled around his and held it tight. Steve could feel it be drawn up to the other’s lips. A soft kiss being placed on top. 

The citizens continued to break down bits of the wall as others rushed past check points to meet with loved ones. 

The future is always forward, never back. Always in front, never behind. 

“Wow.” Billy said.

They couldn’t stop watching, emotion ballooned in their chests. Small tears slipping down their face.

Their entire lives, the Berlin Wall had been a constant. It was never going to be taken down. Just like the sky is blue and gravity exists, the Berlin Wall was always going to be around. It was always going to divide east and west, the United States and the USSR, capitalism and communism. 

Now it was being taken down, the Iron Curtain had a massive hole in it. 

Billy turned Steve’s head to look at him. They said nothing, gazing at each other while the rumble of the news continued one. Their watery eyes reflected the light from the television. 

Steve leaned in for a kiss. Something like this was worth celebrating. 

Billy kissed him back, taking a hold on the front of the other’s shirt. The kiss was like the ones they had hundred of times before in the span of their almost five year relationship.

But the tears in their eyes and the thumping under their veins from the sight on the television made this kiss feel different. It was celebrating, even though they were in Steve’s comfy home in Hawkins, Indiana. This was history, an opportunity to move forward. And that gave them an excuse to kiss the way that they were. 

They broke the kissed and continued to gaze at one another. Billy even pushing back some of the hair from Steve’s eyes to get a better look at those watery doe brown eyes. Even swamped with tears they were still so beautiful in Billy’s opinion. Fighting monsters at seventeen, not twenty two and finishing up college, with ambitions outside of this town. 

He was really Billy’s match.

Steve wiped his eyes with the heel of his hands and gave a smile. 

Just like that the a large slab of concrete got reduced to rubble. People climbed over what remained of the wall and were embraced by people on the other side. The camera panned to people crying in each other’s arms, loud sobbing. Hearts filled with joy, the wall was being torn down. Berlin and Germany was no longer divided. 

The two young men looked at one another, under the glow of the television. They kissed again, Steve placed his hand on the side of Billy’s head while Billy wrapped his arm around the other, pulling them closer together. 

“Why did you want to come here originally?” Steve asked, his voice to now speak over the television as if it could hear them.

Billy wiped his eyes, “I actually came by to tell you that I got a new job. They needed someone to work on cars and I was the most qualified.” He broke into a smile, the kind he gave when he was being genuine, “Guess the future is looking brighter.” 

“The future is forward not behind you.” Steve whispered.

Billy smiled and leaned forward, he pressed another kiss. It wasn’t rough, or hard. It was soft, almost gentle. It was warmed with excitement and love. 

A new future for the world, out the of clutches of the Cold War. But on a personal level, a new future for them. It felt like the cold of Novemeber had bloomed into a warmth that only lasted the moment that they kissed.

Looking forward not backwards.


End file.
